Refrigerating apparatus



Dec. 11, 1934 E. c. BERKDOLL 1,983,895

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Fild 0st. 31, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l fin -fi1 W z?- 5Q a; a y 5 Q INVENTOR M ./1MM

BY M mg? Dec. 11, 1934. c, BERKDOLL 1,983,895

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed Oct. 31, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 a z I INVENTOR ATTORNEY Dec. 11, 1934. E c BERKDOLL 1,983,895

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed 001;. 51, 1950 3 Sheet-Sheec 3 INVENTOR v a) ATTORNEY M Patented Dec. 11, 1934 UNITED STATES I 1,983,895 nnrmcam'rmc APPARATUS Edward C. Berkdoll, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Frigidaire Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application October 31, 1930, Serial No. 492,500 Renewed March .22, 1933 Claims. (01. 62-116) This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to the cabinet construction of said refrigerating apparatus.

One of the objects of the present invention is 5 to 'provide an improved refrigerator cabinet machinery compartment 32.

which is inexpensive to manufacture while at the same time is of pleasing appearance.

More specifically it is an object to provide a mechanically cooled refrigerator of the type in which the refrigerant liquefying unit is housed in the top part of the cabinet and to construct the cabinet in such a mannerv so that the liquefying unit can be so located therein as to require a minimum amount of housing to thereby prevent an undue height of the cabinet and to permit a saving of material.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front plan view in elevation of a refrigerating apparatus embodying features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical view in cross section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; r

Fig. 3 is a front plan view in elevation of a modified form of refrigerating apparatus embodying features of the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical view in cross section of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 3.

In mechanically cooled refrigerators of the type in which the refrigerating unit is located in the top part of the cabinet many difficulties have been presented, among which are the inaccessability to the unit parts in making repairs and the problem of maintaining a symmetrical appearance of the cabinet without the necessity of extending, to an undue height, that part of the cabinet which houses the refrigerating unit. According to this invention these and other difficulties are obviated.

Referring. to thedrawings and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a cabinet 20 of boxlike structure comprising a food compartment 21 formed by side walls 24 and 25, bottom wall 2'? and an insulated top wall 29. The top wall 29 forms the top wall of the food compartment and divides the cabinet into a plurality of compartments, namely, the food compartment and a The side walls of the cabinet 20 include an outer metal casing 3'7 having a generally rectangular cross section,

insulation 39 interposed between the outer casing 3'7 and an inner metal lining member 40. The food compartment is provided with an opening 42 closed by door 43.

Referring more in detail to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 2, the outer casing 37 extends above the top of the partition wall 29 to provide walls for the machinery compartment 32. The machinery compartment 32 is provided with corner posts 4'? to which the outer casing 3'7 may be secured in any suitable manner. The compartment 32 is also provided with a readily removable coverv or top which rests on the posts 47, but spaced slightly therefrom by disks 52 to permit the free circulation of air into and out of said compartment. As shown in Fig. 2 the 15 outer casing 37 is cut away at the rear of the machinery compartment 32 to provide an opening 55 to permit the free circulation of air into and out of the machinery compartment.

The food compartment 21 is adapted to be 20 cooled by a cooling element or evaporator depending from the wall 29. The evaporator may be of any suitable construction having provision for supporting ice making receptacles (not shown). The evaporator 60 is supplied with 25 liquid refrigerant by a refrigerant liquefying unit or element under the control of an expansion valve 6'7. The liquefying unit is mounted on the partition wall 29 and includes preferably a motor driven compressor 70, condenser '71, receiver '72 and a motor driven fan 73 for cooling the condenser, which fan is connected preferably in parallel with the motor driven compressor. The compressor withdraws the gaseous refrigerantv from the evaporator 60 through a vapor con- 35 duit '77, compresses the gaseous refrigerant and delivers it to the condenser 71 wherein it is liquefied and from which it is delivered to a supply conduit connected to the expansion valve 67.

A thermostat is connected, preferably, to the 40 rear portion of the evaporator and is operatively connected with a switch 87 for starting and stopping the motor driven compressor in response to the temperature of the evaporator 60 and compartment 21. Preferably,- the motor driven com- 45 pressor includes a motor and compressor unit hermetically sealed in the compressor casing. The switch 87 is also adapted to control the operation of the motor driven fan. Thus the fan operates during the operation of the motor driven compressor.

In order to maintain the symmetrical appearance of the cabinet without the necessity of extending the side walls of the cabinet to an undue height above the top wall of the food compartment I have provided means for accomplishing this result without the sacrifice, to any appreciable extent, of any of the desirable characteristics of this type of refrigerating apparatus. One manner of practicing this invention is to arrange the top wall of the food compartment in such a manner that at. least a portion thereof is below the uppermost part thereof and to dispose the refrigerant liquefying element in said lower portion. Preferably, this is accomplished by sloping the top wall of the food compartment from near the top of the door downwardly and toward the rear of the cabinet. In sloping the top wall only a small portion of the food storage compartment is utilized and that small portion is at the rear top of the cabinet where it is very inaccessible for the storage of tall food articles even in cabinets having a horizontal top wall on the food compartment. By the present arrangement the liquefying unit can be placed on the lowermost portion of the top wall of the food compartment which wall also forms the bottom wall of the machinery compartment and a support for the liquefying unit. In an arrangement of this [type the height of the cabinet is not only reduced but a saving of material may be had due to the reduced height of the cabinet. Thus by the lowering of the position of the liquefying unit within the cabinet 20 the total height of the cabinet will be reduced accordingly.

Preferably the refrigerating unit which includes the liquefying unit and the cooling element may be removed as a unit from the cabinet 20.

This may be accomplished by making at least a portion of the top wall 29 removable, and mounting the refrigerant liquefying unit on said removable portion and depending the evaporator 60 from said removable portion. Thus when it is desired to remove the refrigerating system for the purpose of making repairs or for inserting an entire new refrigerating system all that is necessary is to remove the removable top or cover 50 and raise the removable portion of the top wall 29 upwardly to thus remove the refrigerant liquefying unit and evaporator, said evaporator being removed through an opening provided in the top wall of the food compartment. Preferably the opening 90 is of sufficient width to permit the insertion or removal of the evaporator 60 and does not extend entirely across the top of the food compartment. If desired, however,

the entire top wall of the food compartment may be in the form of a removable partition wall.

Sometimes it is notdesired to slope the entire top wall thus referring to Figs. 3 and 4 there is shown a cabinet designated in general by the numeral 100. The cabinet M10 is of the two door construction and comprises a food compartment 102 and a machinery compartment 104. In this modification the food compartment 102 is formed by side walls 110, bottom wall 112, a horizontal top wall and a sloping top wall 116. By this arrangement the cabinet is provided with a horizontally disposed top wall at the rear of one of the door openings of the cabinet to thus permit the storage of tall food articles while at the rear of the other door opening the top wall slopes in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 2 with the wall sloping near the top of the door opening downwardly and toward the rear of the cabinet. By providing the sloping top wall 116 there is provided the machinery compartment 104 in which is located a refrigerant liquefying unit which may correspond to the refrigerant liquefying unit 65, and a cooling element or evaporator which may correspond to the evaporator 60. The liquefying unit 125 and the evaporator 130 are operatively connected with one another with the liquefying unit mounted on a removable portion 116a of the sloping wall 116 and evaporator 130 depending therefrom. Thus the refrigerating system in the cabinet 100 may be readily removed in a manner similar to which the refrigerating system may be removed from the cabinet 20. In other respects the cabinets 20 and 100 are substantially similar.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having an insulated refrigerated compartment, a machine compartment located above said refrigerated compartment, an insulated partition dividing said two compartments, said partition being continuously inclined downwardly from the front to the back of the cabinet and forming the entire top wall of said refrigerated compartment.

2. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having an insulated refrigerated compartment, a machine compartment located above said refrigerated compartment, an insulated partition dividing said two compartments, said partition being continuously inclined downwardly from the front to the back of the cabinet and forming the entire top wall of said refrigerated compartment, said insulated partition having a removable portion, a complete refrigerating system mounted upon said removable portion, said refrigerating system including refrigerant liquefying apparatus mounted upon the upper side of said removable portion and evaporating means mounted on the under side of said removable partition and connected to said refrigerant liquefying means.

3. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having an insulated refrigerated compartment, a machine compartment located above said refrigerated compartment, an insulated partition dividing said two compartments, said partition being continuously inclined downwardly from the front to the back of the cabinet and forming the entire top wall of said refrigerated compartment, said insulated partition having a removable portion, a complete refrigerating system mounted upon said removable portion, said refrigerating system including refrigerant liquefying apparatus mounted upon the upper side of said removable portion and evaporating means mounted on the under side of said removable partition and connected to said refrigerant liquefying means, said refrigerant liquefying means including a compressor located at the rear of the removable portion, said machine compartment having a flat top.

4. Arefrigerator cabinet comprisingan insulated food storage compartment, a door and door jamb in the front of said insulated food storage compartment, a machinery compartment above said food storage compartment, an insulated partition wall dividing said machinery compartment and said food storage compartment, said insulated partition wall extending rearwardly and being inclined downwardly from the upper side of said door jamb.

5. A refrigerator cabinet comprising an insulated food storage compartment, a door and door jamb in the front of said insulated food storage compartment, a machinery compartment above said food storage compartment, a removable insulated partition wall dividing said two compartments, said partition wall resting upon the upper side of said door jamb at the front and the rear wall of the food storage compartment at the rear, said removable insulated partition wall being inclined downwardly from the front to the rear of the cabinet.

6. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having an insulated food storage compartment, a machine compartment located above said food storage compartment, said food storage compartment having an inclined flange, structure in its upper portion, said flange structure being inclined downwardly from the front of the cabinet, a removable insulated partition wall dividing said food storage compartment and said machine compartment, said removable partition wall being supported upon said inclined flange structure and being continuously inclined downwardly from the front to the rear of the cabinet.

'7. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having an insulated refrigerated compartment, a machine compartment located above said refrigerated compartment, an insulated partition dividing said two compartments, said insulated partition having a portion continuously inclined downwardly from the front to the back of the cabinet, a complete refrigerating system mounted upon said partition wall, said refrigerating system including refrigerant liquefying apparatus mounted upon the upper side of said partition wall and evaporating means mounted upon the lower side of said partition wall and connected to the refrigerant liquefying means.

8. A refrigerator including a cabinet having insulated walls forming a refrigerated compartment, one of said walls having atleast a portion inclined downwardly continuouslyfrom one side wall to another, a refrigerating apparatus mounted upon said wall having aninclined portion including an evaporating means mounted upon one side of said wall inside the refrigerated compartment and a refrigerantliquefying means located on the other side of said wall outside the refrigerated compartment.

9. A refrigerator including a cabinet having insulated walls forming a refrigerated compartment, one of said walls having at least a portion inclined downwardly continuously from one side wall to another, a refrigerating apparatus mounted upon said wall having an inclined portion including an evaporating means mounted upon one side of said wall inside the refrigerated compartment and a refrigerant liquefying means located on the other side of said wall outside the refrigerated compartment, said refrigerant liquefying means being surrounded by walls forming a machinery compartment.

10. A refrigerator including a cabinet having inner and outer walls surrounding a refrigerated compartment, said outer walls being spaced from said inner walls forming a space therebetween, said walls being spaced apart a greater distance in one portion of the cabinet to provide space for a machine compartment, one of the inner walls adjacent said portion of the cabinet having a portion inclined continuously from one of the inner sides to another, insulation between the inner and outer walls of the cabinet surrounding the inner walls including insulation covering the inclined portion thereof, a refrigerating apparatus having at least a part mounted on the inclined portion, said refrigerating apparatus including a refrigerant liquefying means having at least a portion thereof located within the machine compartment and a refrigerant evaporating means located inside the refrigerated compartment.

11. A refrigerator including an inner liner having a top portion inclined downwardly continuously from one of the walls of the liner to another wall thereof, said inner liner enclosing a refrigerated compartment, insulation surrounding the inner liner including the inclined portion, outer walls surrounding the insulation and the inner liner, said outer walls being spaced from the insulation adjacent the inclined portion of the inner liner to form a machinery compartment, a refrigerating apparatus for cooling said refrigerated compartment-including a refrigerant liquefying means having at least a portion thereof located in the machinery compartment and a refrigerant evaporating means located in the food compartment.

12. A refrigerator including an inner liner having a top portion inclined downwardly continuously from one of the walls of the liner to another wall thereof, said inner liner enclosing a refrigerated compartment, insulation surroundingthe inner liner including the inclined portion, outer walls surrounding the insulation and the inner liner, said outer walls being spaced from the insulation adjacent the inclined portion of the inner liner to form a machinery compartment, the outer walls surrounding the insulation extending continuously without a break to form wall portions of the machinery compartment, at least a part of said inclined portion of said inner liner together with the insulation adjacent there-. to being removable, a refrigerating apparatus for cooling said refrigerated compartment mounted on said removable part, said apparatus including a refrigerant liquefying means having at least a portion thereof located in the machinery compartment and an evaporating means in heat exchange relation with the refrigerated compartment.

13. A refrigerator including a cabinet having an inner liner surrounding a refrigerated compartment, insulation surrounding said inner liner, outer walls surrounding the insulation, a portion of said outer walls being spaced from the insulation to provide a machinery compartment,

the outer walls surrounding the insulation extending continuously without a break to form wall portions of the machinery compartment, a refrigerating apparatus for cooling said refrigerated compartment, said refrigerating apparatus including a refrigerant liquefying means having at least a portion thereof located in the machinery compartment and an evaporating means in heat exchange relation with the refrigerated compartment, the surface of the insulation in the machinery compartment being inclined with respect to the outer walls, the inclination extending from one side of the compartment to another in order to better accommodate the refrigerant liquefying means in the machinery compartment.

14. A refrigerator including a cabinet having outer walls, an insulated refrigerated compartment within said outer walls, said insulated compartment including a wall portion inclined continuously from one of said outer walls to another, said inclined wall portion being spaced from said outer walls to provide a machinery compartment, 2. refrigerating apparatus for cooling said refrigerated compartment including a refrigerant liquefying means having at least a portion thereof located in the machinery. compartment Cal and a. refrigerant evaporating means in heat exchange relation with the refrigerated compartment.

15. A refrigerator including a cabinet having 5 only six walls, one of which includes a door, forming a refrigerated compartment, one of said walls having at least a portion inclined downwardly continuously between two opposite walls adjoining it, a refrigerating apparatus mounted upon said wall having an inclined portion including an evaporating means mounted upon one side of said wall inside the refrigerated compartment and a refrigerant liquefying means located on the other side of said wall outside the refrigerated compartment. EDWARD C. BERKDOLL. 

